LEGO Harry Potter 76414 Expecto Patronum [Review]

LEGO has given us large-format winged creatures from the Harry Potter series, each with an integrated flapping mechanism, and with 76414 Expecto Patronum, the series continues at least somewhat in spirit. There is no movement mechanism, but the “Expecto Patronum” is similar to the name plates on the winged creatures. And in a bit of a surprise, it’s a 2-in-1 set, offering the option of building either Harry’s stag patronus or Remus Lupin’s wolf. Here’s our review of the set, which contains 754 pieces and 2 minifigures, and is available now for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £62.99.

This set is based on a license The LEGO Group has with the Warner Brothers films, not J.K. Rowling directly. The transphobic views expressed by Rowling do not reflect the values of The Brothers Brick or, indeed, those of The LEGO Group. The magical world Rowling created, in which many who felt a bit different could see themselves, meant a great deal to so many people, including those that Rowling now demeans. TBB affirms each individual LEGO fan’s choice to claim a piece of the world for themselves, or to reject it entirely.


The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The box and contents

The front and back of the box highlight the two different builds, accompanied by a “Build & Rebuild” tagline. The front is more stylized, while the back provides clean views of each build as well as the minifigures.

Inside the box are two instruction manuals, one for each animal, and 8 numbered bags. There are no stickers!

Along with a ton of bright light blue, there’s a piece that spurred a lot of curiosity when initial pictures circulated showing 2×2 radar dishes attached to wands. And it’ true. This is a completely new, dual-molded wand piece with a trans-clear crystal-like stud on one end and handle on the other. It also has its bar connection turned 90 degrees to make it more secure when a minifigure is pointing their wand extended out. The top stud being clear makes sense to not add a large black patch behind various translucent colors to represent spells, but might also make it harder to re-use the piece. Nevertheless we’re sure that builders are going to come up with a lot of clever connections using it.

The build

The instruction books aren’t numbered to designate a primary build, but if the box doesn’t make it clear, the fact that Harry’s stag follows the numbered bags while Lupin’s wolf just says to dump all 8 into a pile seals it.

Patronuses in Harry Potter are blueish, yet also transparent. But a fully transparent Patronus, at this scale, is just not realistic (too many pieces aren’t available in transparent colors at all, and transparent pieces can get cloudy when stacked, let alone the challenge of making building instructions when something is translucent all the way through!), so this majestic stag is primarily bright light blue, with some transparent highlights.

It looks pretty good from all angles, though the tail is rather wide and ends up feeling like a privacy flap on the back of the slightly embarrassed ruminant. It’s also very sturdy with the exception of the legs. It will stand on its own without the base, but bits of leg and hoof break off easily under much pressure. The body and neck however are completely solid.

It’s also very posable, occasionally past the point where it looks good. For example, most things you can do with the legs look at worst silly, but arch the neck/head all the way up and a very bare clip connection is uncomfortably exposed. Prancing definitely works though.

Remus’ wolf patronus does of course require taking the stag completely apart. It’s a more compact animal and the base is slightly lower to accommodate the shorter legs. The 2×2 textured slopes, recolored into light blue from their original use as rocks, do a wonderful job of suggesting a fur texture on the animal’s sides.

The front legs of the wolf go stud down onto the base, but the rear legs and bushy tail are adjustable. It looks good from the front and either side, but the back again looks a bit awkward with the tail up.

Due to the smaller and somewhat stouter legs, the wolf is even more solid off the stand. The rear legs even fold up to allow this “sitting on rear haunches” pose, which might be my favorite arrangement of either build.

As the “secondary” build, the wolf doesn’t use all of the pieces; you’re left with a modest pile at the end.

The minifigures

We can’t complain about including Harry in this set, and though the design is largely familiar, it’s been updated to include printed arms. These large animal sets that include Harry are making that a trend, if you remember the lovely printed arms on the Triwizard Tournament Harry from the 76406 Hungarian Horntail. Unfortunately the dirt and bloodstains make it less reusable for other purposes. I believe the torso for Remus Lupin (or as my 15yo assistant refers to him, Wolf McWolf) is new as well, and is nicely detailed and also quite flexible for other uses. Neither figure includes leg printing.

Conclusion and recommendation

This set offers a ton of bright light blue pieces and an interesting twist on the large-format display animal sets from previous Harry Potter waves, without the movement but with the choice between two different well-shaped animals.

For a $70 licensed set, over 750 pieces is great, but two minifigures is a little light; it probably balances out unless you’re really in to the pieces (then woohoo!) or are focused on minifigures (then Harry’s printed arms are the only exceptional feature). I don’t think this set will disappoint people who are drawn to it, either because of the subject or the bright light blue pieces, and by the same token, if you’re not drawn to it, it’s not likely something you’ll miss having.

76414 Expecto Patronum contains 754 pieces and 2 minifigures. It is available now from the LEGO Shop and worldwide for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £62.99 or from Amazon. It may also be available from third-party sellers on eBay.


The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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7 comments on “LEGO Harry Potter 76414 Expecto Patronum [Review]

  1. oukexergon

    That’s one of the most backward disclaimers I have read. You’d think JK Rowling, who is standing up for traditional liberal values, and is especially concerned with protecting women’s rights and access to women-specific spaces, advocates for free speech, and for living according to one’s conscience, is associated with the *exact opposite*.

  2. A Danish AFOL

    Thank you for the disclaimer and for showing solidarity with those discriminated againt.

    Best regards from a Danish AFOL

  3. PKV

    Seems to me like the disclaimer is more trouble than it’s worth. But hey, reader engagement does go up whenever it is used, so maybe everything is going just like they planned.

  4. A Danish AFOL

    PKV:

    To which capacity is the inclusiveness of the disclaimer worth less than the trouble of… Wait a minute, which trouble was that again?

    The trouble of the author voluntarily writing it?

    The trouble of you voluntarily commenting upon it?

    Or?

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